Peter Mel’s Rebirthday Party

All photos by Audrey Lambidakis

On Wednesday evening, Stab premiered Everything & All: The Peter Mel Story (which will be live on Stab Premium Nov. 30) at a sold-out show in Santa Cruz.

Before the film began, interviewing Pete in front of his hometown crowd, I asked him, “Are you more nervous paddling out at Maverick’s, or premiering this biopic?”

I already knew the answer. Maverick’s is familiar water. But telling your whole story, even the stuff that’s not “butterflies and roses,” is about the scariest thing one can do. Of course this was more nerve-wracking.

As our interview wrapped, he took a deep breath. The lights dimmed. He walked off stage and the crowd cheered. The movie played…

…Pete as a rising star. Big Airs. Big Maverick’s. Big secrets. Pete as a falling star. Fighting flea. Fighting meth. Rock bottom…

All the things he worked so hard to hide about his past, out there. The crowd devoured the honesty. The rawness. In 2021, when most of us present our lives as a digital Potemkin Village, it was a fucking power move.

When the credits rolled, Pete climbed back on stage and the crowd sang him happy birthday. He was visually moved. When the song trailed off he exhaled and looked into the adoring crowd and said, “Well, it’s done.”

He thanked the audience and his sponsors, his friends and his family, choking up a bit. Like he got something off his chest. Like he’d been cleansed.

“It feels good to be so supported,” he said.

Click here to subscribe to Stab Premium and watch Everything & All on Tuesday, November 30, PST